


Welcome to Pandoria

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-07-27 01:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7599010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louisa gets discovered while spying on Dark Core.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Nihili stood in front of the portal, her hair blowing in the eerie wind that emanated from it. If it hadn’t already been tied up in a ponytail, it likely would have gone all over her face.

“Before we proceed, my friends,” said Nihili, “we have a visitor. Or should I say, an eavesdropper.” Louisa suddenly felt the air around her twist and become pressing, and then she was dropped in between Nihili and the rest of Dark Core.

 _“Get out!”_ Linda was screaming in her mind, but Louisa was too scared to even move.

“Nice of you to drop in,” said Nihili. The air picked Louisa up so that she dangled before the other Dark Riders. “Who is this?”

“Just some meddling little girl,” said Sabine. “She’s been a thorn in our sides this whole time.”

“And you didn’t get rid of the problem?” asked Nihili. “No wonder the Soul Riders kicked your asses.”

“The Soul Riders are strong,” said Sands.

“Well, so are we, but you still blew it,” said Nihili. She turned her golden gaze back to Louisa. “Now, what to do with you…”

“Kick her ass,” said Sabine. She looked gleeful, though Louisa couldn’t see it under her hood. She could just tell by the way Sabine clapped her hands together in glee.

“Oh, with pleasure,” said Nihili. Louisa was terrified- this wasn’t supposed to happen. She was just supposed to go in, eavesdrop, gather information, and report back to base. But now Nihili was holding her hand above her head while darkness coalesced around her, and grinning down at her with teeth that were too pointy, too sharp.

The first blow hurt, driving Louisa into the ground. Metal wasn’t known for being terribly giving, so the impact hurt like hell.

“Fight me,” said Nihili. She was grinning just like Sabine.

 _“Use it,”_ said Linda. Louisa got to her feet, grateful that she could still move, and closed her eyes to access her magic. It came to her quickly, like water from a tap. Soul Strike was a foreign magic to her still, especially once it was set to Kill. Yet it flew from her fingertips effortlessly. Unfortunately, Nihili also dodged it effortlessly.

“Is that all you’ve got?” asked Nihili. “Such a pity, I was hoping for something better.”

“I’m just getting started,” said Louisa. Her rune wand was in her jacket pocket. She retrieved it.

The spells that the rune wand yielded were incredible, just like Alex had promised. Louisa fired shots at Nihili, erected shields to avoid returning strikes, and managed to hit her a few times.

“Now, this is more like it!” Nihili’s hands were constantly engulfed in the void-like darkness, which now formed into claws that slashed at Louisa. Louisa yelped, dodging, but the claws continued on past her.

“Friendly fire,” said Sabine as darkness surrounded a tear in her cloak.

Nihili gasped. Then she turned to Louisa, fuming. “You made me hurt my girlfriend!” Dark tendrils picked Louisa up and swung her around, threatening to slam her into the ground again. Or the ocean.

Thinking quickly, Louisa formed the spell for Soul Strike and this time managed to hit Nihili. It was only set to Stun, yet it still broke Nihili’s concentration and the tendril collapsed in on itself. Instead of being slammed into the ground, Louisa was flung against the portal. There was a crackling and she screamed as pink filled her vision.

Nihili was in front of her when Louisa could see again. She still looked majorly pissed.

“Throw her through the portal,” said Sabine. “That should take care of that problem.”

Louisa tried to struggle to her feet but she couldn’t even get a foot under her to stand up. She must’ve hit her head when she’d hit the portal. Maybe she’d hit the portal with her head. She touched the back of her head, wincing, and there was blood. Her vision was funny, too. Maybe she’d cracked her skull open.

Her train of thought was derailed when Nihili grabbed her by the shoulders. She was grinning.

“In you go!” said Nihili, and then Louisa saw nothing but pink.


	2. Pandoria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louisa finds a friendly face

“-ight? Are you alright?” Louisa squinted, trying to see he owner of the voice. All she saw was pink. She tried to move, hoping to see her (friend? Acquaintance? Savior?) fellow prisoner, and the pain that shot through her perfectly answered the girl’s question in the form of an agonised screeching noise.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Someone finally appeared in Louisa’s vision, but she still couldn’t see her properly. “Here are your glasses.”

“Thanks,” said Louisa. Her throat was dry and her voice was raspy. Hopefully just from screaming. She tried to move to grab her glasses, but she was having trouble even moving for some reason.

“Oh, I’ll help you.” The girl tried to put Louisa’s glasses back on for her, and only poked her in the eye twice. “There, is that better?”

“Yeah,” said Louisa. Almost no sound came out. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Yeah, heaps.” At least she could see her saviour now.

“At least they weren’t broken,” said the other girl. Now that Louisa could see her properly, she looked familiar. A little paler, a little more natural (in the no-makeup sense, anyway), and a little older. Also a little frazzled and sad and… scared?

“Are you Anne?” asked Louisa.

“The one and only,” said Anne. “Who are you? You feel… good.”

“I’m Louisa. I came to Jorvik a few weeks ago and I’ve been helping your friends ever since,” said Louisa. She tried to sit up and groaned again. “Why am I so sore?”

“Pandoria makes any injuries feel worse,” said Anne. “Don’t scratch yourself on anything. The nature of this place is very chaotic. It could heal your wound or it could tear you open and leave you to die. Or it could infect you.”

“No wonder Nihili beat the crap out of me before she threw me in here,” said Louisa.

“Nihili?” Anne gasped. “Oh dear, that really isn’t good.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” said Louisa. “And now there’s no Lisa to heal me.” She realised, then, that she was as trapped as Anne was. It was really hard not to cry at that realisation. But Anne saw it anyway.

“Well, it seems that we’re both in the same situation,” said Anne. “Trapped here, away from our girlfriends.”

“How’d you know that Lisa was my…?” asked Louisa.

“I am very perceptive,” said Anne. “And you looked suspiciously sad when you realised that she won’t be able to heal you.”

“I could just be very upset about being hurt,” said Louisa.

“I don’t think so,” said Anne. “I don’t know what you see in her, but at least she’s not trying to steal my boyfriend from me.”

“She never did that,” said Louisa. “He liked her but she just felt so awkward because she doesn’t like guys.”

“I know, I was just teasing,” said Anne. “But now probably isn’t the best time for that. I won’t tease you about her anymore. Let’s just find somewhere safe to sit and talk. Probably a cave, the Shadow Guardians tend to ignore them.”

“I thought they were called Shadow Seekers,” said Louisa.

“Maybe out there,” said Anne. “Come on, get up. I can carry you if you’re incapable of walking.”

“You might have to,” said Louisa. “It’s like an ache in my bones.”

“Oh, I know what that is,” said Anne. “It’s just magic burnout. I’ve never had it but I’ve had to nurse Alex through it a couple of times.”

“Just magic burnout,” said Louisa. “How can I get better?”

“Just rest,” said Anne. Louisa didn’t expect Anne to be able to pick her up, but the girl was surprisingly strong.

“Wow, Alex wasn’t wrong about your strength,” said Louisa.

“Does she brag about it?” asked Anne.

“Yes,” said Louisa. “And then she cries about it because she misses you like crazy.”

“I miss her too,” said Anne. “Like crazy, I guess you could say.” Louisa could feel her trembling as Anne carried her to a cave.

“Why can’t you get out?” asked Louisa.

“I’m separated from Concorde,” said Anne. “And I need him in order to open a portal that leads back home.”

“Do you have any idea where he might be?” asked Louisa.

“Oh, I know exactly where he is,” said Anne. “Unfortunately, I’m not strong enough to knock down a brick wall.”

“Well, that’s handy,” said Louisa. “I have some defensive magic, though, maybe I can break the wall down when I recover.”

“Oh, are you of the Lightning Circle?” asked Anne.

“No,” said Louisa. “I have a lot of magic from all different kinds of circles. I don’t know why and nobody will tell me when I ask.”

“Typical druids,” said Anne. “And typical Fripp. Did you know that he didn’t even properly explain my powers to me? He just told me to walk off a cliff, like it was completely normal.” She’d found the cave and set Louisa down as gently as she could. It still hurt when Louisa came into contact with the rock, though.

“He didn’t explain much to anyone,” said Louisa. “Last time I talked to him when I got my rune wand, he seemed a little unhinged.”

“And I thought that I was going crazy,” said Anne. She sat down beside Louisa. “I’ve been stuck here for two years now. I’ve been angry and distraught and scared and really quite loony. But now I’m just tired. I want to go home.”

“I was supposed to bring you home,” said Louisa. “Just not like this.”

“Well, now it’s someone else’s job,” said Anne. “That is, unless you get better and free Concorde first.”

“That’s the plan,” said Louisa. “I’ll get better and free Concorde and then we can go back home and reunite with our girlfriends.”

“I like that plan,” said Anne. “I’ve felt awful about just sitting here this whole time. Sometimes I’ve gone to the rune stone anchors and tried to talk to Alex through them. I don’t know if she hears me or anything but it helps to feel like I’m talking to somebody. Gosh, I hope nobody’s heard my messages. I can just imagine some poor startled druid trying to read the runestone and suddenly hearing my teary, half-coherent apologies for ever leaving Jorvik to pursue my dreams.”

Louisa giggled. And then she imagined one of the elder druids either being startled away or listening in intently, and her giggles morphed into outright laughter.

“What’s so funny?” asked Anne.

“Oh, just, ow, it hurts to laugh,” said Louisa. She stopped laughing long enough to talk properly. “I was just thinking of some big, super serious druid like Avalon hearing your message. I don’t know if it’d be funnier if it startled him or if he got really into it.”

“That is funny,” said Anne, giggling too. “I feel really awful saying this but now I’m glad that you fell through the Dark Portal into Pandoria. Maybe you’ll keep me sane. Or help me regain my sanity.”

“I guess that is a good thing,” said Louisa. “When Lisa was here, you never talked to her?”

“No,” said Anne. “She was in another part of Pandoria. I could feel her but I couldn’t see her or hear her. Not that she’d make great conversation anyway. We don’t exactly get along.” She went to say something else but stopped herself. Louisa was glad.

“Want me to catch you up on things?” asked Louisa. “I won’t be able to tell you about the fashions, just stuff that’s been happening around Jorvik.”

“Please do,” said Anne. “I’m horribly out of the loop. And if you’re worried about getting hungry or thirsty or anything, don’t. Your body kind of freezes here because of the way that Pandoria is. It’s the one good thing about it.”

“I was kind of worried about that,” said Louisa. “You probably can’t eat or drink anything here.”

“It’s best not to,” said Anne. “Now, bring me up to date on what’s been going on.”

So Louisa told Anne about everything. From the mundane, like Tan’s birthday party, to the magical, up until the point that she’d ended up in Pandoria. And Anne listened.


	3. Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louisa and Anne do some exploring, and Anne tells Louisa a little about Pandoria's dangers

Louisa didn’t know how much time passed before she was able to stand again. Maybe a day. Two, three. A week? Time was weird in this place. It took even longer before she was able to summon a small glimmer of magic in her hand.

“Are you ready to go?” asked Anne, seeing her new friend standing and almost leaning against the wall.

“Yes, I think so,” said Louisa. “I feel better. Kinda hungry though. I thought you said we didn’t get hungry in here.”

“Well, we don’t,” said Anne. “Are you sure it’s just hunger for food that you feel?”

“Yes,” said Louisa, frowning at her. “Maybe it’s just stress, I don’t know.”

“Or it could be your body still adjusting,” said Anne. “But now that you’re mobile, we should go. I don’t like staying in caves too long. The environment is liable to change at any moment.”

“How would it change?” asked Louisa.

“Oh, you know, the usual. Random holes opening up, the ground becoming a downwards slope to nowhere, walls deciding to pull you in. That’s why I had to move you so many times, and may I say that you are an awful patient.”

“Yeah, well your bedside manner is atrocious,” said Louisa.

“Well, I’m sorry. We can’t all be Healers,” said Anne, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“You don’t have to be a Healer to know to be gentle when someone is already hurt,” said Louisa. She walked past Anne, trying not to limp too much. Anne sighed and passed her to lead the way.

Pandoria wasn’t as bright pink as Louisa had thought it would be. It was in places, but mostly it was just pink. She didn’t know why it was such a bright pink in the cracks. Still too pink though.

“So you’re the Queen of this place, right?” asked Louisa.

“I used to think so,” said Anne. Louisa walked beside her. “But now, after being stuck here for two years… I don’t think so. It’s so hostile to me. Jessica said that she was the Dark Princess, maybe she’s the princess of this realm.”

“Maybe,” said Louisa. “But Pandoria is also pretty hostile to the Generals here. Mr Sands mentioned that Katja had to regain her strength when she came back.”

“Yes, I know, that is why it’s strange,” said Anne. “I’ve been here for two years, and I still don’t know much about it.”

“Alex said that she measures the activity between the worlds, maybe she knows more about it,” said Louisa. “I should’ve asked her before. Now it’s too late.”

“We can ask her when we get back,” said Anne. “When I’m done holding her.”

“Linda’s probably going to feel lonely,” said Louisa. 

“No she won’t,” said Anne with a laugh. “She’ll just roll her eyes at our excessive displays of affection.”

Louisa went to say something else, but then the world swirled around them and Anne stopped and grabbed onto her upper arm tightly.

“Stay perfectly still,” said Anne. “The land is just teleporting us.” Her voice cut through the swirling wind easily.

When the swirling wind died down, they were in a different place. Anne let go of Louisa and sighed at where they found themselves.

“Where are we now?” asked Louisa.

“The centre of Pandoria,” said Anne. “This is so stupidly far away from Concorde.” She looked up at the tall gate-like structures. “When we were first awakened, we had to go here to break our seals. Garnok was going to use them to destroy the world.”

“But if they’re broken, why are they still here?” asked Louisa. She turned slowly as she looked up at the four symbols of the Soul Riders at the tops of the structures.

“Well, we get our powers from here. The seals that we had to break were like mines on the ground. Once we broke those tablets, we became stronger. The seal bombs weren’t just using us to destroy the world, they were also leeching our power.”

“Weird,” said Louisa. “So how do we get out of here?”

“I don’t know,” said Anne. “I was planning on just waiting for the world to move again, honestly. But if you want, we could walk off a cliff and hope to fall on an island. That’s very scary and dangerous though, you have to try to grab onto an island or a tree on the way down.”

“Yeah, let’s just wander around the area and wait for the world to move,” said Louisa. She shivered. “I’m kinda scared of heights.”

“Alright,” said Anne. “Or we could pick one of the fruits off the trees and eat it and vividly hallucinate for a while.”

“No thanks,” said Louisa. Anne laughed.

“I was only joking,” said Anne. “You might be allergic to them. And the downside is that afterwards you’re afflicted with severe paranoia.”

“Have you tried it?” asked Louisa.

“Obviously,” said Anne. “I was at a low point. I didn’t know if the fruit would kill me or take me home or what, but it was better than just waiting. And no, before you ask, I’m not going to tell you what I hallucinated about.”

“I won’t ask,” said Louisa. “Damn, these plants here are big.”

“Oh, don’t go too near them,” said Anne.

“Why not?” asked Louisa, reaching her hand out to touch the strange bulb-shaped plant. She was so busy looking at the outside of it that she didn’t see what was happening. The little things that she’d thought held pollen opened up, revealing themselves to be eyes. A black vine slithered out like a tongue, and Louisa only felt it when it wrapped around her wrist. Her hand also became stuck to the plant.

“Because they eat you,” said Anne. She sighed and took her hand-made knife out of the hand-made sheath at her side. Louisa squealed as she was picked up by more tendrils and dragged towards the plant, but Anne was surprisingly quick with a knife. It cut through the vines, and Louisa fell to the ground with a thud. The plant was already hissing in pain and sending out more tendrils after Anne, but they didn’t even get past the lip of the plant before Anne dragged her knife through the outside. It deflated.

“What was that?” asked Louisa, getting to her feet and throwing the ends of the vines away. She wiped her hand on the stone floor.

“I call them Demon Plants,” said Anne. “Or do you mean what I just did?”

“All of the above,” said Louisa. “Everyone’s always talking about rescuing you. I just thought you were a damsel in distress.”

“Hardly,” said Anne. “I made this knife and sheath after I got here out of some broken bits of stone.

“That’s handy,” said Louisa.

“Well, I am quite resourceful. And Alex taught me how to fight a while ago.” Anne wiped her blade on the dead plant and replaced it in its sheath.

“Next time we come across a hostile, I’ll try to use my rune wand,” said Louisa. “Do you have one?”

“Yes but I didn’t have it with me,” said Anne.

“Why not?” asked Louisa. “Aren’t Soul Riders always supposed to be prepared for anything?”

“Well, I was hardly going to carry a rune wand with me to France,” said Anne. “I was focusing on my life, I wasn’t expecting the Generals to follow me there.”

“Yeah, you were focusing so much on your life that you completely neglected your girlfriend,” said Louisa.

“Lisa was more focused on her career than family and friends too and you probably didn’t yell at her like this, did you?” asked Anne. She glared at Louisa, and Louisa shrank away from her.

“No,” said Louisa. “Sorry. I guess I’m just angry at you because I’m always there helping Alex feel better when she gets upset about you still being trapped here.”

“I wonder who’s helping her now,” said Anne. “And Lisa.”

“Yeah,” said Louisa. She knew who was helping Alex, but telling Anne that here and now would probably be the worst idea. So she kept her mouth shut.

“Maybe I should tell you more about this place while we wait,” said Anne. “Or what I’ve figured out, anyway.”

“If you want to keep me alive, yes,” said Louisa.

“Okay,” said Anne. “I’ll start with this area. The plants, as you’ve just discovered, are Demon Plants. The trees hold hallucinogenic fruit. The rocks are surprisingly solid, as long as they don’t get too thin.”

“What about the water?” asked Louisa.

“It has sea monsters in it,” said Anne. “I actually have a theory that all of the sea monsters or scary sea creatures that we have are monsters that have slipped through the cracks between worlds.”

“Or vice versa,” said Louisa. “Yeah, that makes sense.” As if knowing that it was being talked about, a tentacled creature stuck some tentacles and eyes out of the pink water. Anne held her knife up, and the monster slipped back beneath the water.

“Yes, you should know your place,” said Anne, putting the knife away again.

Louisa had already felt safe with Anne helping her through Pandoria. Now, she felt even safer.


	4. Time to Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Louisa have a little chat while hiding from Shadow Guardians.

Louisa leaned back against the cave wall, her heart pounding. Anne was peering around the corner, clutching Louisa’s rune wand in her hand. It had been a hectic run to the nearest cave. Those Shadow Guardians had come out of nowhere. Or maybe they’d been brought in by the random wind storm.

“Well, looks like we’ll be here for a while,” said Anne, walking over to Louisa. “Here’s your rune wand. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

“You used it better than I did,” said Louisa.

“I don’t blame you for freezing up,” said Anne. “There were so many of them.”

“I didn’t freeze up, one of them clipped me,” said Louisa. “I expected them to be round like they are in Jorvik, not all smokey tendrils.”

“They look different in their natural home,” said Anne. “The magic of Pandoria makes them stronger. Just like it makes us stronger.”

“Then why did it make Katja weaker?” asked Louisa.

“I don’t know,” said Anne. “It made Sangordah and his other cronies weaker too.”

“Who?” asked Louisa.

“Mr Sands is his human name,” said Anne. 

“Oh,” said Louisa. “That’s interesting. Druids never told me that.”

“Trust me, I intend to yell at them a lot when I get back,” said Anne. She sat down with her back against the wall, and Louisa sat down beside her. “After I spend a few days in Alex’s bed with her, of course.” She laughed.

“Me too. Only with Lisa. In my bed,” said Louisa. She blushed and looked away.

“Oh, so you’re not a virgin,” said Anne. “That’s not surprising.”

“And why’s that?” asked Louisa.

“Oh, just your girlfriend,” said Anne. “She does seem the type to jump into bed easily.”

“When will you stop insulting her?” asked Louisa.

“That wasn’t an insult,” said Anne. “It would be hypocritical of me to insult her for something that I do too.”

“What? You? No,” said Louisa, shaking her head.

“Yes,” said Anne, laughing. “Oh, we’re always going at it. When one of us isn’t busy. I wonder how she managed without me.”

“She has hands,” said Louisa quickly before she could tell Anne the truth.

“Yes but she’s not that flexible,” said Anne. She chewed on her lower lip suddenly. 

“Oh so that’s why she blushes whenever someone sticks their tongue out at her,” said Louisa.

“Guilty,” said Anne, giggling. “Oh, this is silly. We’re taking refuge from a Shadow Guardian Storm and talking about sex, of all things.”

“Hey, at least we’re just talking about it,” said Louisa. “We’re not actually doing it.” Anne looked at her. “No. You’re not my type.”

“You have a type?” asked Anne.

“Yes, spunky redheads,” said Louisa.

“Oh, so I bet you were all blushy around Sonja too, right?” asked Anne.

“I said spunky,” said Louisa. Anne laughed. “Do you have a type?”

“No,” said Anne. “Alex does, though. Models.”

“She aims high,” said Louisa. Anne nodded, smiling fondly.

“Okay, that’s verging into Tear Territory, let’s go back to the first topic,” said Anne. “Do you have any weird kinks?”

“Um. Well, I have this thing about my feet,” said Louisa. Anne shifted so that her feet were pointing away from Louisa. “I said my feet.”

“What exactly about them?” asked Anne.

“I like having them touched,” said Louisa. “Okay, now your turn.”

“Not yet, I want more information,” said Anne. “How do you like them being touched?”

“What are you, a fuck boy?” asked Louisa. She laughed, but Anne just looked confused. 

“Is that one of the terms that surfaced while I was away?” asked Anne.

“Probably. It’s what you call a boy who asks girls for sexy photos and keeps asking them how it feels when they do sexual things,” said Louisa.

“Well, I’m not a boy,” said Anne. “I do like gossip though.”

“Alright, fine,” said Louisa. “It might feel awkward though.”

“It’s only awkward if one of us makes it awkward,” said Anne. “I’m kind of curious about what Lisa’s like in bed.”

“Why?” asked Louisa. Anne shrugged.

“Simple curiosity,” said Anne. “I feel like she’s really kinky.”

“She kind of is,” said Louisa. “Like when she gets me to put on a blindfold and wanting to do it outside and sometimes we use gags to be quiet. It sounds a lot kinkier than it really is.” She laced her fingers together.

“And the feet?” asked Anne.

“Your pupils are dilated and you seem really too excited by this,” said Louisa.

“You’re right. Sorry,” said Anne. “But is Lisa a sexual freak like Alex?”

“Well she doesn’t want it all the time,” said Louisa. “Mostly she’s too tired because she can’t sleep without me.”

“Why can’t she sleep?” asked Anne.

“Nightmares,” said Louisa. “You’ll probably have them too when you go back.”

“Maybe,” said Anne. “Don’t talk about sleeping.”

“Why not?” asked Louisa.

“It makes me think of her,” said Anne. She wiped tears from her eyes. “When I sleep with her, we always end up wrapped up in each other. It only happened a few times but when I get out… I’m not going to leave her side.”

“Oh, do your parents…”

“No, they don’t know. But I’m going to tell them. I don’t care if they disown me or anything like that, all I’ve thought about this whole time is her. When I first came here, I knew that she was right.”

“Right about what?” asked Louisa.

“The last thing she said to me was that I made a mistake in competing worldwide,” said Anne. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “And she was right. I should never have left her, I made myself an easy target.”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself for what they did,” said Louisa. “At least you had your horse with you. If Lisa had been captured while on tour, she might still be here and we never would’ve found her.”

“Yes, not that it helped much,” said Anne. “I still got captured and separated from my horse. I’m useless without a rune wand.”

“So you both fucked up and ended up here,” said Louisa. “Maybe I did too.”

“No you didn’t. Dark Core took you by surprise,” said Anne. She smiled sadly. “And you just used Alex’s trick.”

“We’re close,” said Louisa. “Not that close, you don’t have to worry about me moving in on your girl.”

“Why should I worry about you?” asked Anne. “You’re into Lisa. Really into her. I mean, you’re even wearing her jacket.”

“Yeah.” Louisa shrugged, playing with the faux-fur trim on the jacket’s hood. “I bet she’s wearing one of my jackets or something too. I hope she’s keeping my horses company.”

“How did we get from sex to crying?” asked Anne.

“I don’t know.” Louisa shook her head, half laughing and half crying. “We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

“Well, that’s Pandoria for you,” said Anne. “We become crazier than Sabine.”

“At least I have someone to join me on my descent into madness,” said Louisa.

“We’re constantly on edge here,” said Anne. “And we can’t do anything to take the edge off because if you let your guard down, the landscape changes.”

“I go off on my own once and you never let me live it down,” said Louisa.

“What? No, I was talking about me,” said Anne. She laughed. “It’s embarrassing, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Shadow Guardian caught you?” asked Louisa.

“Of all the beings to walk in on me,” Anne huffed. Louisa laughed at her, and Anne joined in after a while. If Shadow Guardians could hear, or a rune stone anchor was nearby, they would have been slightly alarmed at the almost hysterical laughter issuing from the cave. They were all mad here in Pandoria.


	5. Mission Critical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at home base (aka the library), things start to fall apart.

Linda hadn’t felt such intense psychic feedback in a long time. Then again, she usually wasn’t so deeply hooked into the other person’s mind. The sudden loss of that connection sent waves of pain through her skull, so she grit her teeth and rubbed her temples.

It didn’t even hit her for a few seconds what the loss of connection meant. She’d heard a scream and there’d been a flash of pink. At first she’d thought that the pink was just from her eyes being closed. But she couldn’t feel Louisa anymore. That wasn’t good.

The door to the library suddenly opened, so Linda took her hands away from her forehead and tried to make herself look calmer than she actually felt.

“Hey,” said Lisa. “How’s the mission?”

“Oh, i-it’s fine. Totally fine,” said Linda. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“Linda, I’ve known you for years,” said Lisa. “I know when you’re lying. You stutter. Also you look pale.”

“Alright, fine,” said Linda. “I was just trying to spare you the pain.”

“What happened?” asked Lisa.

“I don’t know why you didn’t feel it. Alex did,” said Linda.

“What. Happened?” asked Lisa. She didn’t look angry. More worried.

Linda took a deep breath, but Alex appeared before she could say anything.

“Mission failed,” said Alex. “Code pink.”

“How did you know?” asked Linda. “I haven’t received word, unless-“

“It’s my weird connection to Pandoria thing,” said Alex. “I can feel whenever someone goes there. And when they leave. We’ve lost someone else to that pink hell. Sorry Lisa.”

“What? How? And when were you going to tell me?” Now Lisa looked angry, and Linda felt immediately guilty. But she had no reason to. It had just happened, after all.

“Yeah, I’d like to know that too,” said Alex.

“Alright, fine,” said Linda. “Nihili saw Louisa, they had a fight, and Louisa ended up being thrown through the portal.”

“Damn it!” Lisa growled and left the library.

“Where are you going?” asked Alex, running out after her.

“I’m going to find her,” said Lisa. “C’mon, Starshine, let’s go.” Her steed didn’t move, only shaking his head.

“He’s right,” said Alex. “It’s not safe to enter Pandoria, Lisa. We have to find a safe place and time.”

“Yes and during all that time, she’s trapped there!” Lisa gave up on trying to get Starshine to move and instead dismounted and set off on foot.

“So is Anne but we just have to wait,” said Alex.

“You don’t know what it’s like there,” said Lisa. “It’s different to how it was years ago when we were still in school. Maybe it was only safe when we went because we took a portal from the Stonecircle, I don’t know. But there are so many Shadow Guardians and killer plants and the land itself is hostile…”

“I know,” said Alex. “Elizabeth told me when she was trying to get me to not go rushing in looking for Anne.”

“Did she really think that telling you that would make a difference?” asked Lisa.

“The only thing it did was make me want to go there more than ever,” said Alex. “But now I can see why that would be a bad idea.”

“What do you mean?” asked Lisa. Alex sighed.

“When I use Shadow Sight, everything is either tinged or surrounded by pink,” said Alex. “It’s bad enough that our ancient enemies are opening portals and rifts all over the place. If we opened a portal…”

“I guess it’s different when they’re to blame,” said Lisa. “If hell breaks loose because we opened a portal, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.”

“Exactly,” said Alex. “We have to just wait for the druids and Fripp to find a safe way there.”

“And what should I do in the meantime?” asked Lisa. “I’m not exactly about to start getting drunk or starting fights to distract myself from missing my girlfriend. Although I’ll have to do something to sleep. Maybe I should sleep next to a runestone.”

“Talk to her horses,” said Alex. “When you go out somewhere, take one of her horses with you. On the off chance that she breaks out, she’s going to need a horse. Anne’s hardly going to let her ride Concorde. And if nothing else, you’ll feel closer to her when you’re with one of her horses. You can talk about her. Miss her together.”

Lisa sighed. “It’s a good thing we bought a place in New Hillcrest together. At least her dad won’t be worrying about her.”

“And at least it wasn’t a public disappearance, like Anne,” said Alex. “And like yours.”

“I think I know how you feel now,” said Lisa.

“No, you don’t,” said Alex. “No one can possibly know how I feel. You weren’t dating her for years. You weren’t already missing her. You didn’t fight with her before she disappeared literally off the face of the planet.”

“Maybe they’re together,” said Lisa. “Helping each other.”

“That’s what I’m hoping,” said Alex. “I hope Anne isn’t being too horrible to her.”

“Me too,” said Lisa. She got back in her saddle, and this time Starshine was more responsive to her. “I’ll ride out to Epona and talk to her horses.”

“Okay,” said Alex. “Aideen’s light shine over you and all that.”

“Yeah, same to you,” said Lisa. “Let me know when the meeting will be.”

“I’ll text you or Linda will,” said Alex. “We’ll keep you updated.”

“I’ll do the same,” said Lisa. “Get the boat guy to take her horse to Epona instead of Cape West. I don’t want to risk seeing her dad.”

“Will do,” said Alex. “Hopefully he doesn’t get stuck on a sand bar.”

“Yeah,” said Lisa, and smiled. She tried to keep smiling as she rode away. But it was so hard. Starshine could feel her distress.

 _“She will be alright,”_ he said.

 _“Maybe,”_ said Lisa. _“Don’t talk about it please, I don’t want to do that cliché of a girl riding away on horseback while crying.”_

 _“Alright.”_ Starshine fell silent and instead just responded to his rider’s wishes to get to New Hillcrest as fast as possible.

It was only in the stables that Lisa finally broke down and cried. It was hard not to, with all of Louisa’s horses asking after her. And there was the empty space where the horse that she’d been riding used to be. Lisa could barely look at it.

“She’s not dead,” she finally managed to say. Smokeeye was nuzzling her hair, while Lisa clutched the manes of two ponies. One of them, a little grey one, was singing in her mind.

“So then where is she?” asked the other pony. Lisa almost recognised their voices. She knew that some of them developed personalities based on shows or novels that Louisa enjoyed.

“She’s where I was,” said Lisa. She sniffed. “Our positions have been switched. Fucking typical.” Goldmist should have been there to chastise her for swearing. The fact that he wasn’t brought on more tears.

“You’ll get her back, though,” said the black Morgan. “The good guys always win.”

“Maybe she’ll even heroically break out by herself,” said the chestnut Arabian. The Morgan nuzzled him.

“That’s what Alex is hoping,” said Lisa. “So that’s part of why I came here. Each day I’m going to take one of you out with me. I’ll lead you while I ride Starshine. If she does break out, she’ll need a horse.”

“Can I go first?” asked Smokeeye.

“Only if you are thinking of her and not of me,” said Starshine.

“No,” said Lisa. “I’ll take Goldmist first tomorrow. He’ll be coming back this afternoon or tonight sometime, the guy who drove the boat out will return him to the old ferry docks here.”

“An excellent decision,” said Starshine. “Now tell them the other reason for taking each of them out.”

“I want to get to know my girlfriend’s horses better,” said Lisa. “I don’t even know your names or nicknames except for Smokeeye and a few others, and that’s just terrible.”

“There are a lot on Horse Island as well,” said Smokeeye.

“Then I’ll bring them all back and put them in the various stables around Jorvik,” said Lisa. “I can afford it. I just really hope that I don’t see any of her friends or family. Telling them the truth will be awful.”

“Just tell them that she’s away on some Soul Rider errand. It’s not a lie,” said the black Morgan.

“Oh yeah. Didn’t think of that,” said Lisa. “Thanks, uh…”

“Sam,” said the Morgan. “And you’re welcome.”

Lisa stayed there with the horses for a while. Every time she tried to leave, she thought of Louisa stuck in Pandoria and being haunted by the nightmarish land and she just couldn’t. She only left once Goldmist arrived.

The boat guy didn’t say anything to Lisa. He looked a little awkward, though.

“Just so we’re clear, I don’t blame you,” said Lisa. “You didn’t lose her.”

“But something awful happened to her there, and I took her there,” said the boat guy.

“We told her to go,” said Lisa. “But none of us are to blame. Dark Core did this, just like they do everything awful.” Her hand clutched tightly to Goldmist’s bridle.

“I still shouldn’t have taken her there,” said the man.

“Don’t blame yourself,” said Lisa. “We’re doing everything we can to get her back.”

“Is there anything that I can do to help?” asked the man.

“Not at the moment. We’ll send a message to you if we need you,” said Lisa. She turned and led Goldmist up the stairs. When she heard the sound of the boat motor travelling away, she pressed her face into Goldmist’s side and cried again. She could feel his own mixed grief and anger.

“They’re not going to get away with this,” said Goldmist. He snorted. “I promise.”


	6. Starry-eyed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Louisa talk about their girlfriends.

There really wasn’t much to do in Pandoria besides talk. Fortunately, Anne never shut up.

“So, you and Lisa, huh?” asked Anne. “How and when did that happen?”

“Not long after we met,” said Louisa. “It sounds bad when I put it like that, huh?”

Anne scoffed. “Hardly. I used to like guys just after I met them because they were cute.”

“That’s shallow,” said Louisa.

“Oh? And then what drew you to Lisa if not her looks?” asked Anne. Louisa didn’t say anything. “That’s what I thought.”

“I was drawn to her looks but I really fell in love with her personality,” said Louisa. “I kind of… before I went to save her, I looked up some videos of her. She’s so… so dorky and sweet and she loves her dad and her horse so much and it’s just so cute.” She’d been combing her fingers through her hair while she talked, and now she wiggled her fingers and watched the loose strands of hair float to the ground.

“Everyone’s drawn by her looks and I just don’t get it,” said Anne. “She really isn’t all that attractive.”

“That depends on what you think is attractive,” said Louisa.

“Perhaps. But it’s just so strange and unfair, when she came to the school she had people falling all over her. First Josh, then Linda…”

“Wait, Linda liked her?” asked Louisa.

“Yes,” said Anne. “They dated for a little while. You haven’t seen it? Linda used to go all moon-eyed over her-“ Louisa snorted- “oh, well that explains it. You’re both complete idiots when it comes to wordplay.”

“Maybe Lisa has a thing for wordy girls,” said Louisa.

“Wordy or nerdy?” asked Anne. “Maybe she just likes girls who wear glasses.”

“No, I meant wordy,” said Louisa. “I write stories and I like reading.”

Anne hummed thoughtfully. “So what do you like about her?”

“I could go on about it for days,” said Louisa. Anne gestured to the cave around them.

“There’s nothing stopping you from doing just that,” said Anne.

“Fine.” Louisa smiled as she leaned back against the cave wall. “I like her hair and her outfit. I like the way she grins like a loon when she’s out riding. Actually, I just love the way she looks when she rides.”

“Rides what?”

“Her horse, you perv.” Anne giggled, and Louisa grinned before continuing. “I love the way she plays with my hair. I love her singing voice. And her stupid jokes and the way she loves her dad and Starshine, like I said before. I love the way she kisses me and holds me and how she’s always making sure I’m alright. When it’s cold, she always gives me most of the blankets. I love that she leaves me pictures on my laptop or phone when she stays the night. And how she leaves notes on chocolate wrappers in her jacket pockets when she gives it to me.”

“That may be the most disgustingly romantic thing I’ve ever heard of,” said Anne. “She leaves notes on rubbish?” Louisa nodded and realised that she was crying. She wiped her tears away.

“I miss her,” said Louisa. “All that stuff I love about her, I really miss it now.”

“Now you know how I feel,” said Anne.

“Your turn,” said Louisa. “Tell me what you love about Alex.”

“Are you just trying to make me cry?” asked Anne.

“Yes,” said Louisa. “I bet you don’t look pretty when you cry.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” said Anne. “But fine. I love how strong she is. Not just physically but mentally and emotionally. She didn’t crack when everyone found out that she’s gay. She didn’t question her sanity once when we first awakened to our powers. I love how she always stands up for her family, even that little rat of a brother. I love her hands. How she works for everything. I love how tightly she holds onto me in bed, and I don’t just mean in the sexual way. I love how magical she is. How much she loves that pony of hers. I love how she’s always so willing to fight. You probably haven’t seen her hair properly but I love that too. It’s so long but silky. I love how much she loves her mother and how she never gives up on her, no matter what. I love how she loves me so much. No matter how bad I treat her, and I have treated her so bad in the past, Louisa, I flirted with other guys in front of her, even asked someone on a date in front of her, but she never got mad at me for it. She just got upset. Even when we fought, she never directed her anger at me. Maybe she knew that I’d feel the guilt anyway, I don’t know.” She was openly crying now, and Louisa honestly wasn’t sure what to do to comfort her. Anne didn’t seem the huggy type. Maybe a pat on the back would do.

“She loves you just as much as you say,” said Louisa, patting her on the back.

“I know,” said Anne. She sniffled. “I don’t deserve her.”

“Well, you’ve got her,” said Louisa. “And I think that you love her as much as she loves you.”

“I guess you’d know,” said Anne. “You’re the one who was always comforting her because of my stupid mistake.” She sounded so broken-hearted that Louisa almost cried with her.

“You do,” said Louisa. “You love her so much. Don’t you?”

“Yes,” said Anne. “But how can I love her so much yet still fuck up so much?”

“Maybe you’re scared,” said Louisa.

“Well, I did worry a lot about my parents finding out when we were first dating,” said Anne. “For some stupid reason, my social standing mattered more to me than my heart. Here I was with the girl I loved more than anything in the world, the one who completed me, but I couldn’t be with her openly.”

“Rich people problems,” said Louisa. Anne nodded.

“It seems so stupid now,” said Anne. “This is stupid too. I’m sorry I made you think about Lisa.”

“I’m sorry I made you think about Alex,” said Louisa. “You know, Lisa talked about you like you were some stone cold bitch. I guess Pandoria has changed you.”

“I suppose that it has,” said Anne. “For the better in this case. She never gave up on me, not even after two years. The least I can do is show her how much I love her. And tell her.” Her eyes suddenly brightened, and not just with tears.

“How?” asked Louisa.

“The one way a girl can show her devotion to anyone,” said Anne. “Wait, is it still illegal to wed someone of the same gender?”

“Not in Jorvik,” said Louisa. “Also, my lips are sealed. I won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Good,” said Anne. The momentary hope drove back the tears for now.


	7. Nightingale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louisa and Anne discover a rune stone and play around with music

“What’s that round thing?” asked Louisa.

“You’ll have to be more specific,” said Anne. Louisa rolled her eyes and pointed upwards at the round thing in the sky.

“That,” said Louisa. “And don’t say it’s a rock.”

“Oh, that,” said Anne. “That’s the bottom of a rune stone. An anchor, I call it.”

“So it’s like a link between Pandoria and Jorvik, right?” asked Louisa.

“Yes, that’s right,” said Anne. “Obviously you can’t go through it, but I’ve heard that you can communicate through them if you cast a certain spell using a rune wand.”

“What spell?” asked Louisa, already taking her rune wand out of her pocket.

“Just say some words and point it at the anchor, then speak,” said Anne. “Whoever is listening will be able to hear it.”

“What words?” asked Louisa.

“Honestly, words aren’t so important for us Soul Riders,” said Anne. “Just something like ‘amplify’ or ‘hear my voice’ or something.”

“Royal Canterlot voice,” said Louisa, pointing the wand at the stone. Pinkish-purple light flowed from the wand and into the stone, creating a spiderweb of the same coloured magic over the stone.

“Hello,” said Anne.

“It’s me,” said Louisa, and giggled. “Hello from the other side.”

“You sound like you’re singing,” said Anne, frowning in confusion.

 _“I must have called a thousand times,”_ someone sang back. Louisa grinned, then started laughing. 

“Spy Master, is that you?” asked Louisa.

 _“You didn’t hear anything,”_ said the Spy Master. As he walked away, Louisa and Anne looked at each other and laughed. Louisa cancelled the spell and tucked her rune wand back inside her pocket.

“What was that song?” asked Anne. “I’ve never heard it before.”

“It’s a new song,” said Louisa. “Here, I have it on my iPod. Good thing it survived the trip.” She took her iPod out of her other pocket, then found the music app and selected the right song. She turned the volume up and listened.

“Who is the singer?” asked Anne, taking the iPod and trying to look at the screen. There was a blooping noise, and the song abruptly changed to another one. Anne wrinkled her nose up in a look of pure disgust.

“You shuffled it,” said Louisa, taking it back with a sigh. She tapped the screen to pause the song. “It was by Adele.”

“What was that noise?” asked Anne.

“The bloop or the song?” asked Louisa.

“You call that a song?” asked Anne. “That’s just noise.”

“Hey, don’t insult my taste in music,” said Louisa. “I like electronic music.”

“Well, I guess that explains your taste in women,” said Anne. Louisa glared at her and walked away.

“Oh, come back, I didn’t mean it,” said Anne, walking after Louisa.

“I know, it’s just the stress getting to me,” said Louisa. She stopped and waited for Anne to catch up.

“Well… do you have any other songs on there?” asked Anne. “Not what came on before, something like that Adele one.”

“Yeah,” said Louisa. “But are you sure you want to listen to sad songs?”

“I want to listen to that song again,” said Anne.

“What, and cry?” asked Louisa.

“No, I want to sing it to the rune stone,” said Anne. “Please?”

“Okay but if you start crying, I’m not going to be your human tissue again,” said Louisa.

“That’s fine,” said Anne. “I’ll just go through your songs and listen to them.”

“Okay but don’t go through the photos,” said Louisa, and handed it to her.

“Why not?” asked Anne, tapping the photo app. “Oh. Seriously?”

“Oh, and you’ve never sent Alex nudes before,” said Louisa, blushing.

“Good point,” said Anne. “How do I get back to music?”

Louisa showed her how to do it, then sat next to Anne while she listened to some of the songs in her music library. It was always awkward waiting for someone to pass judgment on the songs that she liked. She tried not to be too offended when Anne quickly skipped the electronic songs. But she did blush when Anne found the song that Lisa had recorded just for her.

“That’s horribly romantic,” said Anne, smiling softly. “Does she serenade you sometimes?”

“Yes,” said Louisa. “Hey, maybe we can serenade her through the rune stones.”

“Oh, sure, if you want to be singing at the rune stones all day,” said Anne.

“Not like we have anything better to do,” said Louisa. She pointed her rune wand at the anchor again. “Royal Canterlot voice.” Once it was glowing, she found another song on her iPod and began to sing.

“Perhaps we could take turns?” Anne suggested. “On the fairly certain chance that Alex happens to be listening in.”

“Sure,” said Louisa.

“And you don’t need to worry about the rune stone being in a hard to reach location because this spell is strong enough to play the sound through all of the stones,” said Anne. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I ended up here.”

“Aww,” said Louisa. She rubbed Anne’s back. “You’ll get home soon. Just as soon as this place drops us somewhere closer to Concorde.”

“I know,” said Anne. “So, do you have any songs on there that are over two years old?”

“Yeah, most of them,” said Louisa with a smile.

***

Lisa couldn’t sleep. She’d tried, but it was impossible without the reassuring presence of her girlfriend next to her.

“I’m going for a ride,” Lisa announced as she walked out of the manor.

“Midnight ride. Sounds like fun,” said Alex. Lisa didn’t miss the open and empty bottle of wine on the table, or the half-empty one in Alex’s hand.

“Are you drunk?” asked Lisa.

“Not yet,” said Alex. “I’m still sober enough to ride, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I’m not,” said Lisa. “You really did need her, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Alex. “Funny how one person can keep all of us sane.”

“You can go for a ride with me if you want,” said Lisa. “Clear your head.”

“No,” said Alex. “I just need someone to talk to. Someone I can trust. You go. I’ll be fine.”

“Isn’t that what your mum said before you left?” asked Lisa. Alex bared her teeth at her and slammed her way back into her bedroom. Lisa could smell ozone in her wake.

Choosing to ignore it for now, Lisa mounted Starshine and rode off into the night. He could feel his rider’s sheer exhaustion, but also her desire to be somewhere quickly. So he cantered to a rune stone, where she dismounted and laid next to it. It looked more like she collapsed, so he nuzzled her hair.

_“Who’s this singer?”_

Lisa lifted her head, frowning in confusion at the rune stone. That almost sounded like…

_“Oh, that’s Demi Lovato. I think she was around when you were still here. Then she went away for a while and came back stronger than ever.”_

_“Are you implying that I’m like a celebrity having a breakdown?”_

_“No, you’re just reading too much into it.”_

“Louisa?” Lisa whispered. She got out her rune wand and cast the spell that would enable her to speak to it. Now the sound came out clearer, and she could almost feel Louisa there with her. She recognised the song, and began singing it too.

***

“I can hear her!” said Louisa, turning to Anne with wide eyes.

“I can too,” said Anne. “I didn’t know that she knew a spell to speak through the rune stones.”

“Maybe Alex taught it to her,” said Louisa. She began singing back to Lisa.

“So we could have been using this all along but we’re using it to sing to each other,” said Anne. “This is so silly.”

 _“I need sleep,”_ said Lisa. Louisa reached for the rune stone anchor, but her fingers couldn’t even graze the stone.

“Okay. I’ll be your nightingale,” said Louisa. Her thumb put the song on repeat so she could sing from the beginning again. Before long, she couldn’t hear Lisa anymore. She knew it was a good thing. But it still hurt to lose her again.


	8. Warrior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne gets in trouble with a Pandorian sea monster.

After being in Pandoria for a week (or so it felt, the clock and calendar on Louisa’s jPod had gone funny), Louisa had learned to always grab onto Anne when the environment changed. Which was frequently.

“It’s almost like this place likes seeing me cling onto you,” said Louisa, grabbing Anne’s hand as the air rippled.

“Of course it does,” said Anne. She kept one hand on her stone knife, just in case, so Louisa grabbed her rune wand.

This time, Pandoria found it funny to dump the pair in a large body of pink water. Louisa quickly swam to shore, kicking away tentacles and creatures that brushed her legs, and finally made it to shore where she batted at her legs frantically. The water left behind a burning sensation, so Louisa quickly stripped her pants off. The burning persisted, and she looked worriedly at her legs to make sure that they weren’t burning.

A sudden splash drew her attention back towards the water, where a tentacle had just breached the surface. It occurred to her that her friend was nowhere to be seen.

“Uh oh. Anne?” she called.

There was another loud splash as a thicker tentacle flew out of the water carrying a passenger. Anne was clinging onto the creature with her teeth grit in a snarl, holding onto her knife with her free hand.

“Die,” Anne snarled, stabbing her knife into the thick appendage holding her. The creature gave a screech of pain as dark purple blood sprayed Anne’s face, and another tentacle wrapped around her chest. It was probably aiming for her throat, but Anne was moving around too much. She still screamed, though.

Louisa suddenly remembered the rune wand that she was holding and tapped into her powers. She wasn’t as powerful without her Soul Steed beneath her, but she could still hurt this monster enough to save her friend. When the flash of Soul Strike impacted with the limb, the monster shrieked again and curled its tentacle back towards its body. With her arms free, Anne could hack at the tentacle holding her until she fell back into the water.

By the time Anne made it to shore, the top of her shirt was gone. She was breathing heavily and hunched over. The little cut on her forehead was bleeding again, and Louisa could imagine that it must hurt like hell.

“You lost your shirt,” said Louisa. The last of it melted away before her eyes.

“Unfortunate,” said Anne. She straightened up, then grimaced. “How bad does it look?”

“Are those burns?” asked Louisa. She was trying not to look at Anne’s chest, but now she had to. Anne’s entire torso and the tops of her arms were covered in tentacle-shaped burns.

“Acid burns,” said Anne. “They go away, praise Aideen. But they hurt like hell.”

“Acid?” Louisa frowned. “So that’s what the burning is.”

“Oh, the water burns faintly too,” said Anne. “Can I have your jacket?”

“I don’t know…” Louisa looked down at the jacket, which was soaking wet and weighed twice as much.

“Fine, just the shirt, then,” said Anne. “Please? Unless you’re that much of a pervert that-“

“You can have it,” said Louisa. She turned around to undress. “Did the blood hurt you too?”

“I can’t feel my face,” said Anne. “Good thing I closed my eyes, or I’d be blind. Temporarily. But being even temporarily blind in this place is-“

“I can imagine,” said Louisa. She zipped up her hoodie and handed the shirt to Anne, who pulled it on while wincing in pain. Louisa put her pants back on as well, not wanting to leave them behind.

“It only took my shirt two years to fall apart,” said Anne. “Oh well, it was out of fashion anyway.”

“I can’t decide if you and Loretta would be besties or enemies,” said Louisa. “You’re both obsessed with fashion.”

“Ugh, Loretta sounds like the person who I used to be,” said Anne. “Come on, let’s move on. I don’t think that these monsters can crawl onto land, but I’m not about to stick around to find out.”

“Good idea,” said Louisa. Anne patted her pockets and frowned.

“Damn, I lost my knife,” said Anne. She sighed. “Time to make another one, I suppose. You’d be dead in a few hours if you didn’t have someone to protect you.”

“You know, your girlfriend is supposed to the warrior,” said Louisa.

“A traveller also needs to protect herself,” said Anne. She walked over to a promising-looking pile of jagged rocks. “Hand me your wand.”

“Hey, this is interesting,” said Louisa. “Come over here.” She waved Anne over, and Anne rolled her eyes before walking over to stand beside Louisa.

“Well, this just screams ‘trap’,” said Anne, looking skeptically at what was, essentially, a cache of weapons. It was just sitting out in the open for anyone to take. “Can you do Shadow Sight?”

“No,” said Louisa. “I’m not powerful enough yet.”

“Oh, you’re plenty powerful, you’re just not trained,” said Anne. “I can do it, though. I just can’t see very well at the moment.”

Anne squinted at the weapons cache anyway, though. There weren’t any wards that she could see. “What the hell?” Anne muttered.

“Is it safe?” asked Louisa.

“Surprisingly, yes,” said Anne. “I suppose that the sea monster was the guardian.”

Louisa stepped towards the weapons cache and picked up a knife. It had a familiar symbol on the hilt, a broken heart. “Ooh, I think I know who owned these.”

“Who?” asked Anne.

“Elise,” said Louisa. For some reason, she felt like saying the girl’s chosen name would call her. It was probably stupid, but then again, saying Voldemort’s name aloud had been harmless once.

“Oh, she’s nothing. Jessica is the real warrior,” said Anne. “Nice weapons, though.” She picked up a sword, testing its weight with a few practice swings.

“You know, now I can kind of see what Alex sees in you,” said Louisa, blushing at the memory of Anne’s bare skin.

“I was almost killed by a sea monster, and you’re admiring my body,” said Anne. She shook her head. “Unbelievable. But thank you.”

“Were you that toned before your imprisonment?” asked Louisa.

“I didn’t become all muscular in prison, if that’s what you’re asking,” said Anne. She picked up some daggers, then looked around for a plant to make more sheaths with. “It takes strong abs to be a good equestrian.”

“Damn,” said Louisa. Her blush intensified. “Have you ever, you know, with the monsters…” Anne punched her shoulder, though not as hard as she could have.

“Why on earth would I do that?” said Anne. “They try to eat me, I don’t want them to eat me out.”

“Sorry,” said Louisa, blushing.

“Honestly,” said Anne, and threw her arms up helplessly. “You’re hopeless. The tentacles of the sea monsters are coated with acid, not to mention the suckers leave huge welts, and the tongues of the plants are just as painful.”

“Have you tried it?” asked Louisa. Anne picked up a small stone and threw it at her, which Louisa ducked. Then Anne saw what it had hit and her face paled.

“Well, there’s the guardian,” said Anne, not taking her eyes off the giant horse-shaped monster. It was covered with eyes and had a mane and tail of snakes. It also emanated Darkness.

The two of them fled before the stampeding monster, staying within touching distance of each other just in case the landscape changed again.

When it did, Pandoria saw fit to humour them for once and dumped them in a cave. Immediately, Anne collapsed to the ground, hissing in pain.

“How many of those things have you fought?” asked Louisa.

“Too many,” said Anne. “Do you mind if I take my shirt off? Actually, don’t answer that, I know the answer.” She took it off anyway. “Just don’t stare.”

“I’ll somehow manage to resist,” said Louisa. She took her jPod out of her pocket, once again amazed that it survived everything here. It could do everything but connect to the internet here.

“I can’t believe you have so many nude photos of her,” said Anne as Louisa looked through the photos.

“Just wait until you get back home, you and Alex will be sending nudes to each other all the time,” said Louisa. Anne laughed, but then her laughter turned into whimpers of pain.

“Is there anything that can help?” asked Louisa, exiting the photo app and locking her jPod to look at her friend.

“Do you have healing magic?” asked Anne.

“No,” said Louisa.

“Then no,” said Anne. “Just keep an eye out for monsters and keep them away from me.” She buried her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

“You can cry,” said Louisa.

“Oh, it was almost easier when I was alone,” said Anne. “I didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing me become a wreck. I come off as so strong but-“

“But that means that you can’t show weakness, yes, I know,” said Louisa. “Alex said exactly the same thing to me. But I don’t judge people for crying.”

“I suppose you’d be a horrible girlfriend if you did,” said Anne. “Just don’t hug me, no matter how much you want to. I’m covered in acid burns.”

“Okay,” said Louisa. “I’ll just go stand at the cave entrance. Scream if you need me.”

“One last thing,” said Anne. Louisa turned to look at her. Anne gave her a little smile. “Thank you for noticing me. Female attention is so rare.”

“I know the feeling,” said Louisa. “You’re not single but being noticed still feels nice.”

“Yeah,” said Anne. She sniffed, and Louisa turned her back on her friend and walked away. 

Everything in her was telling her to turn back and hug her friend, but she knew that she couldn’t. She could hear Anne crying from the cave entrance, but she didn’t move from her spot. It was a lot like when Linda had been stuck in the castle, really. Louisa rested her head on the cave wall and sighed. Hopefully Pandoria would let them go home soon.


End file.
